


Seeking Out the Red

by endlessiterationsofthesamefoolishness



Series: A Red Girl in a Blue World [6]
Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Light Angst, Mild Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22373128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlessiterationsofthesamefoolishness/pseuds/endlessiterationsofthesamefoolishness
Summary: When Anna's special glasses get broken, her world again lacks color, and then her guardian confuses her by sending her away with other members of Scepter Four instead of letting her stay close to him like she wants, and she begins to wonder if Reisi wants her in the Blue Clan at all.
Relationships: Munakata Reishi & Kushina Anna
Series: A Red Girl in a Blue World [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601338
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this off and on for a bit, since it leads up to a few important events in this world as I see it. It has been difficult, though, as much as I have wanted to get to the second chapter of this for a while now.
> 
> It is difficult to pin down some of the characters who mostly appear in the manga or side stories. And I went with one spelling of a certain character's name that does not match with the tags because I saw it that way first and as I understand it, many names can be written multiple ways, so I don't think it's invalid, just perhaps not common? It makes sense this way to me, so I'll leave it as is.

* * *

When Reisi suggested going to her favorite restaurant, Anna knew it was bad news.

Not that she couldn’t tell from the moment he’d found out about her broken glasses. The anger and sadness coming from him was stronger than her own, though it was just an accident. She didn’t believe her classmate had fallen on purpose, hadn’t meant to knock Anna down and send her special glasses across the floor to where the other kids were playing.

They didn’t even know anyone had fallen until after they’d stepped on her glasses, shattering their pretty red into tiny pieces.

She’d wanted to cry then and there, and when Reisi came to the school to get her, she’d felt like crying all over again. She hadn’t let herself, but they’d broken her favorite thing and taken color from her world again.

He’d said he would have another pair made, and she didn’t doubt him, but she’d still spent the rest of the day curled up against him and refusing to look at anything or speak to anyone. She’d spent so long without color that not having it shouldn’t be this hard, but it _hurt,_ and that pain made her not want to do anything at all.

She wouldn’t have moved at all if Reisi hadn’t made her, reminding her that even Kings were human and he had to do necessary things like everyone else. When he came back, he’d changed and suggested they go out.

She didn’t want to, but she did because he asked.

“It will take a week for a new pair to be made.”

“A week?”

Reisi nodded. “As you likely knew, forging the glasses to offset your colorblindness is not a simple task. It is more than simply making a red piece of glass and fitting it to a frame. That does not actually work, not the way you need it to. Even the special lens the planetarium used for that show took time to perfect, as mere colored glass is not a solution by itself.”

She knew that, since she’d tried so many ways of making that work herself with other red things. She hadn’t found anything like her glasses Reisi had made specially for her.

“I asked them to make sure the glass was shatterproof this time.”

“Is that possible?”

“The least they can do is try, though it may not be as simple as I make it sound.” Reisi reached for his drink. His frustration was there in his voice. He was letting so much show, and Anna felt strange about it as much as she was full of emotions herself.

“Okay.”

“I will make this up to you.”

She looked down at her cake, not feeling like eating it. “Do I have to go to school before I get them back? I don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “No, you don’t, though I don’t know what you’ll do with all that time. You’ll have to keep up with your lessons, of course, but beyond that...”

She shrugged, having little no real plans besides sitting in his lap while he did paperwork.

* * *

Reisi had other plans for her.

As soon as they were back, he called Seri to his office, gave her instructions, and sent Anna off with her and another woman, Yayoi from records who was jealous that the cat liked the one they called the ogre better.

Goki didn’t seem like an ogre to Anna. He was a sad man with a lot of guilt. He was also angry, and he didn’t seem to like Reisi much. He was nice to Anna, let her play with the cat if she was there, but if Reisi was the one to come find her, she almost feared for him.

She wasn’t with Goki, though. She was with Seri and Yayoi, and they were off to go shopping.

Anna didn’t want to shop, but Reisi hadn’t given any of them a choice. Yayoi was nervous again, and Seri seemed worried, too.

“Why are we shopping?”

“You heard the captain. He thought that you should have some new clothes.”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t need any. Mine still fit, and we replaced the ones I couldn’t see with red ones, so I don’t need more.”

She didn’t think Reisi sent her away because of any danger. If something dangerous was happening, he’d want Seri with him, since she was his most trusted lieutenant and his best fighter. Fushimi was sneakier, but Seri was stronger.

Anna also knew that some people lost to Seri just because they couldn’t pay attention properly with her uniform like that. Reisi said that was intentional. He’d explained that when they gave Anna the uniform that had a similar coat to Seri’s. Hers didn’t open as far, but Reisi said it didn’t need to, since she wasn’t going to be using biological impulses against people.

(He’d also said that anyone reacting to Anna like that would face the wrath of kings. He was scary, then, too.)

“Sometimes it’s nice just to look at clothes,” Yayoi said. “Especially if you can’t afford to get all the ones you might want.”

“Or can’t imagine when you’d have a chance to wear them,” Seri agreed, stopping to look at a very long, silky dress that was some kind of light color, maybe even white.

“Is Reisi mad at me?”

Yayoi gaped at her in disbelief. Seri shook her head, kneeling down next to her. “You know that’s nearly impossible, right? And he doesn’t blame you for the glasses getting broken. He just wants to cheer you up, so he sent you to look for clothes you might like.”

Anna frowned. “I can’t see the colors. Why would I want to look at clothes?”

“As a distraction that clearly didn’t work,” Seri said. She stood tall and looked around. “Ah, I see something you might like. Come on. The red section is over here.”

Anna could tell they were trying to be cheerful for her sake, so she went along with them. She looked at the red dresses, picking out two before asking to return home.

* * *

She climbed into Reisi’s lap while Seri tried to apologize. He waved her off and gave Anna her classwork for the day. She finished it and curled up in his lap, closing her eyes on a colorless world and wishing they could stay that way.

She knew Reisi was the Blue King. This was the Blue Clan. She was the only one who seemed to like red, and there was some kind of rivalry with the Red Clan, so she understood that. She missed colors, though, and wished there was more red.

Reisi had let her paint her room red, but that place was far from here, and she didn’t want to be there. She wanted to be with him.

* * *

“Ah, Fushimi.”

One look at Munakata and Fushimi knew he was going to regret answering this summons. He had to follow orders, it wasn’t like he didn’t, that was how Scepter Four worked, but Munakata often made that difficult. Suoh hadn’t given many orders, and HOMRA was a mess, just a bunch of punks who did their own thing, but sometimes for a king of order, Munakata’s orders often made less sense than HOMRA did.

“You sent for me?”

“I did,” Munakata said with a smile. “Anna is in need of your technical expertise.”

Fushimi stared at him. He wasn’t the only one. The Strain girl looked almost horrified by the captain’s words.

“I’d like you to take her to get all of the standard trinkets available today. She does her homework here often enough, but she should have access to a computer and all the other electronic devices of her own. Since you are the most knowledgeable person in that respect, I want you to help her find them and get them set up to see to her needs.”

The girl frowned. “Reisi, I thought—”

“Unfortunately, I have to meet with the prime minister now, so I have to leave you in Fushimi’s capable hands. Don’t worry. You’ll be safe.” Munakata gave her a pat on the head and eased her off his lap as he rose, taking off his uniform coat and loosening his tie as he crossed the room.

She stared after him, and Fushimi grimaced. “Come on.”

Her eyes moved to him, and he cursed Munakata in every way he knew how. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner we both get back to the things we’d rather be doing.”

She nodded, taking hold of his hand as they left the room.

* * *

“Can you make it red?” Anna asked, pointing to the screen, which was set to the default Scepter Four blue, their logo in the background. “Please?”

Fushimi made a point of showing her how to do it herself, not wanting to have to do this for her again. He wasn’t tech support, not even in intelligence anymore, even if he still found himself doing a lot of their work. Munakata always spoke highly of his skills, and it seemed like he actually knew how to use them, but that didn’t stop him from making stupid requests like this that anyone could handle.

“Thank you.”

He shrugged. “Anything else you need?”

She shook her head, pulling the tablet close to her. “I didn’t even need this.”

“You’ll want your own when you’re older. Just trust me on that.”

She looked down at her feet. “Saruhiko, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

He frowned at her, not sure where this was coming from. “No. Why bother? You’re a human lie detector, right? Even if you weren’t—whatever. What is it you want?”

She took a breath and faced him. “Do you think Reisi wants me here?”

That was a stupid question. “If Munakata didn’t want you here, you’d know it.”

She looked away again. “He keeps sending me with the others. Seri said he was trying to cheer me up, but I don’t want to shop. I don’t want a computer. I just want to be where he is. He keeps making excuses and leaving me with the first person he can find.”

Fushimi wasn’t going to pretend he had wanted this or that he would put any of that past Munakata. “He’s done a lot more for you than I would have.”

His pocket buzzed, and he looked down to find he’d gotten a text from Munakata. _Make sure she has her own personalized case for any handheld devices. You may need to send out for them as she prefers red. Or better yet, take her shopping for some._

Fushimi gripped his phone, ready to tell him off when a second text came.

 _That_ is _an order, by the way._

* * *

Anna sat at Reisi’s desk, turning her case over again, watching the sparkles shift through the red as she did. Saruhiko looked like he’d rather die than buy it for her, but he had, grumbling the entire time about what a bastard Reisi was and scaring the clerk.

She liked the case, though she didn’t need it. She always asked Reisi if she had questions, and he pulled up the answer on his screens so she could see them. Sometimes he said the pictures would be nice puzzles and then ordered a custom one with what he’d looked up for her, and they did them together when they came.

She sighed. Why did it feel like he didn’t want her here?

“Such complete idiocy. To think that such a man was elected to lead a country,” Reisi said as he came into his office. He pulled off his uniform coat and hung it up before loosening his collar. “I remain profoundly glad that the true power lies with the Gold King.”

She bit her lip. That man had scared her when she met him, before she was given to Reisi. He’d seemed just as distant then, if not as frightening.

“Oh. Anna,” Reisi said, and she looked up to see him smiling at her. “I see you found something to your liking again.”

She set the tablet down. “Are you mad?”

“I don’t think very highly of certain elected officials, that’s all,” Reisi said, sounding very tired. “Shouldn’t have even needed to have that conversation, but it’s done now. A shame my paperwork is not. I am behind again.”

He came closer to her, stopping at the edge of the desk. “No comment about lazy kings?”

She shook her head, hopping down so he could take the chair again. As soon as he did, she climbed up into his lap and curled up against him.

“Is your schoolwork done? No? Better start on that, then. Let’s see about doing it on this new toy Fushimi found for you...”

She pulled the tablet out of his hands and put it in her lap.

“Anna?”

“Tired,” she said, knowing he was. She could tell, not just with her ability, but in how he was sitting now. Fatigue rolled off him in waves. Had he been up all night after she fell asleep? That wasn’t that unusual, but he seemed to feel it more than usual today.

“All right. A bit of a nap before resuming work. Would you like some music, too?”

She shook her head, settling in to listen to his heartbeat instead.

* * *

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Reisi said when Anna opened her eyes. “I have a very important task for you today.”

She frowned. Was he sending her back to school? They’d agreed she got until her new glasses were ready, or so she’d thought. Today should have been the day they were ready, so maybe he was about to give them to her?

He sighed. “I’m afraid your glasses aren’t finished yet. They assured me it won’t be much longer, but as they first assured me it would only be a week and it is now eight days past that point, I do not think I trust their word very much. I should go have a talk with them later, though it will have to wait, I’m afraid. I have some… other tasks to deal with first.”

She looked down at her hands. “Oh.”

“You are going with Camo and Domoyji today to get ingredients and other necessary items for a big meal. Camo specifically asked for your assistance, and you can wear your uniform if you like, since this is semi-official Scepter Four business.”

She nodded, climbing down from his lap. He was sending her away again, and she didn’t want to be upset by it. She was, but she wouldn’t tell him that. He’d said he had things to do, and even if that was a lie—which she didn’t get the sense that he was lying, just holding something back, as usual—she didn’t want to sit her alone. Going back to school would be better than that, but she didn’t want to do that, either.

She’d go with Ryuho and Andy, then.

* * *

Ryuho’s mind was on the food, and Andy was being impulsive again, touching nearly everything in sight, which was driving Ryuho crazy. Anna watched them for a while before she got tired of it. She couldn’t even tell if they were actually looking at oranges, and she didn’t want to stay here.

With a sigh, she walked outside to wait on the benches she’d seen there, still trying to figure out Reisi’s odd behavior. Seri said it was just him trying to cheer her up, and Saruhiko said she’d know if Reisi didn’t want her there, but she didn’t.

Reisi’s words didn’t match with his actions, which happened sometimes. He was an adult and a king, and his sense of humor was weird. Even Anna knew that much. Reisi held back things that would upset or scare people, he held back when he was teasing, and he held back when he had a plan he didn’t see the need to share.

This was almost like that.

Was Reisi’s plan to get rid of her? Was that why he kept sending her with everyone else?

She sighed. She didn’t understand. He was supposed to be her guardian on paper until she was grown, and he didn’t seem to mind before when she came in and sat in his lap and fell asleep. He was always talking about ways to make her smile, and he didn’t seem to care how much money he spent on her, so she wouldn’t believe he didn’t want her if he didn’t keep sending her away like this.

She was still thinking about that when a man walked past her, making her gasp. The red he had was beautiful, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She rose and followed after him, unable to resist the pull of that red. After this time without her glasses, without color, to see something so bright, she wanted more of it.

* * *

“And that’s the last of it,” Camo said, smiling with relief when he got the last of the ingredients they needed. The captain’s orders had been specific, and in addition to them, they needed to get anything Anna might want or need. She’d been quieter than usual while they shopped, so he didn’t even know that she wanted anything, but Domoyji was quick to grab anything red whether she asked for it or not.

“Finally. We need to get back and—”

“Anna?” Camo looked around them, frowning. He turned back to Domoyji. “Where is she?”

“What? She was right there.”

“You were holding her hand,” Camo said, feeling panic stir within him. He could only see his own precious daughter every three months, but having Anna with them helped. She couldn’t replace his daughter, and she favored the captain, that was clear to all of them. Still, just her presence made Scepter Four different, and as inscrutable as their king was, when he was with Anna, he seemed more approachable.

“Yeah, but then you gave me the bread, and I didn’t—She was right there.”

Camo grimaced. He had passed things to Domoyji, but that was no excuse for either of them. “Search the whole store. Now.”

Domoyji nodded, rushing off to look. Camo went to the door and looked out into the street.

Many people were coming and going, but there was no sign of Anna there. Camo went back inside, coming face to face with an out of breath Domoyji.

“She’s not here. What are we going to do? The captain’s going to kill us.”

Camo would never forgive himself if something happened to the girl. “Call the others. We have to find her.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna visits HOMRA. This causes some problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was... not easy to get right. And I know now after reviewing Side:Red that I need to show just where the universes diverge, since it's clear to me if Anna and Mikoto bonded the way they did in that story, he never would have let her go to the blue clan. Still, this universe hinges on that, so I assume that they never connected as deeply as that story shows.
> 
> Still, she has some ties there, and that is going to change the shape of things to come, even if the adults are a bit stubborn as usual.

* * *

“Well?”

Fushimi didn’t think anyone wanted to see the captain’s face right now. Awashima was showing her nerves, though that could just be because she cared about the girl, too. Camo’s call had sent panic through most of Scepter Four. Munakata’s choice in making the girl their mascot had its drawbacks. Now everyone was worried and few of them could focus.

She was one small Strain girl in a very large city, and she could be anywhere.

“She didn’t take anything electronic with her,” Fushimi said. “The devices I got for her have tracking apps, but they’re here in the compound—in her room. She left them both behind.”

Munakata didn’t respond, didn’t turn around from where he stood.

“I’ve already put in the request to increase the level of surveillance,” Awashima said. “With a Prussian Blue—”

“Royal,” Munakata corrected. “Make it Royal Blue and see it through. Fushimi, don’t you think your skills are better applied elsewhere?”

Of course he did. Still, he’d been told to report to Munakata and hadn’t been dismissed yet, so what the hell did he expect? “I’m going.”

“Sir,” Awashima began, her tone showing her hesitation. “What are you going to do?”

“Find her.”

* * *

“Well, now, this is a surprise,” the man said, looking down at her. “You’re not exactly Kusanagi’s usual sort of customer.”

Anna looked up at him. He was smiling gently, and he was red, too, like the one she’d followed into the bar, but not as red. That came from the man who’d sat down there, ignoring her as he drank. She didn’t know that she wanted to talk to him, but she couldn’t help being drawn to his red.

“Get rid of the brat, Tatara.”

“Now, now, that’s not very kind to our guest,” the man said, waving a hand as the other one grunted. He smiled at her again. “I’m Tatara Totsuka. Do you remember me?”

Anna couldn’t forget any of them. Though her aunt had forgotten her, Anna herself could not forget. She had met them all before, through Honami, and she had seen a beautiful red in the form of Mikoto Suoh.

She looked at her hands. Once, before Reisi, they had tried to make her the Blue King. If he had not come to power, she would still be part of the experiment. Reisi was a good Blue King. She was not, but she would have done it for Honami.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“The hell are you doing? I told you to get rid of the brat.”

Tatara ignored him. “I’ve been working on a new recipe. Would you like to try it?”

She winced, thinking of the recipes Camo had mentioned while they were shopping. She should not have left him or Domoyji.

“I promise it’ll be good.”

She shook her head. Her eyes went to the red man again. She felt a pull toward him. It was not like what she felt when she was with Reisi. Reisi made her feel safe. This man was different. She felt like they were similar.

“Red,” she whispered, aware it was the only color she could see. If she touched him, would she be able to see the world again?

“I have a great recipe for food that’s red, and you know what? Kusanagi can make you a soda that’s red. Just ask him.”

Anna shook her head. She wouldn’t.

“Eat or get out, kid. Don’t need you staring at me all day.”

“If you’d rather we called your—”

“No.” Anna touched her pocket, but the PDA that Fushimi had given her was not there. She’d left it in her room. She couldn’t call anyone to tell them where she was. That was irresponsible of her, and she knew Reisi would be disappointed. “You cannot call my aunt.”

Tatara grimaced. “Yes, we know, but there is _someone_ we can call, right?”

She shook her head, starting to leave when the pull of the red again. She stopped, biting her lip as she stared at the man at the bar.

“What do you want?”

She wasn’t sure.

* * *

“What do you mean the captain didn’t join you? He said he was going to find the girl when he left,” Fushimi demanded, and he swore he could hear the idiot on the other end of the line flinching. “He should have been there by now.”

The hell was the captain thinking this time? Fushimi didn’t know. He wasn’t sure he would ever understand what went on in that man’s head, but that just pissed him off. Given how long had passed since Munakata left his office, he should have reached the team members already in the field, and he should have been able to reach the shop where Camo and Domoyji lost Anna and taken control of the search already.

“Maybe, but he’s not here. Lieutenant Awashima just arrived. No sign of the captain.”

Damn it. Fushimi hung up on him, dialing the captain’s number instead. It went to voicemail, and he swore aloud. “Idiot. Sending that girl off with an irresponsible guy like that...”

He turned back to his computer. He needed to find Anna.

And maybe the captain, too.

* * *

“You didn’t answer me.”

She swallowed, looking up at Mikoto. She was still fascinated by his red, but that was not an answer. What did she want? Color? Maybe if she touched him, she would see it? Everything? He seemed to burn bright red, and it was so pretty. She wanted more of it.

The door opened, and she had barely looked over to see who had come in when she was pulled close to something warm and familiar. Reisi.

“There you are. Do you know how worried everyone is? Nearly the entire division has been deployed. They’re all looking for you. Domoyji panicked. Camo was distressed. Even Fushimi had some choice words to say on the matter. He blamed me for letting you go with them in the first place.”

She blinked. She hadn’t been gone that long, had she? And they were all worried? Why?

He sat back, and she studied him. She was confused again. He did seem upset, but he forced a smile as he combed back some of her hair.

“Think you’re about to make me sick.”

Reisi tensed, standing up again. “Suoh.”

“Recruiting them awful young, aren’t you, Munakata?”

Reisi adjusted his glasses. “Do not twist it into something it isn’t. Anna is my ward, a valued and much beloved member of Scepter Four.”

Mikoto snorted. “You using her like those Usagi were?”

“Don’t be absurd. Anna is a Strain, and in that sense, her life is not and cannot be normal, but we have given her the best opportunity she can have to live the same life any child her age would have. She is not school at present due to some extenuating circumstances, but she has not been harmed.”

“Yeah? Then what is she doing here?”

Anna moved closer to Reisi. They were both so angry. She didn’t like this.

“It seems my subordinates were irresponsible at best. That is a matter I will attend to later. If you will excuse us, I am taking Anna with me now.”

Mikoto eyed her. “You really want to go with this jerk?”

Reisi was her guardian. He was, on paper, if nothing else. She had to be with him, even if she could not see. She had even wanted to be there—at least until she thought he didn’t want her.

“You had your chance to claim her as I understand it,” Reisi said, and she looked up at him with a frown. “You chose to bring a fight to the Gold King’s territory and exposed a deranged Usagi using the corrupted remains of Jin Hibari’s Scepter Four all for the sake of your former teacher, the girl’s aunt.”

Mikoto took out a cigarette and lit it. “I’m not in the mood for another one of your sanctimonious lectures. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re trespassing.”

“Normally, I would not intrude, of course, but I had to find Anna.”

Mikoto took a drag on his cigarette and let it out. “Yeah, sure. You threw out that stick up your ass for a girl? That’d be the day.”

“You do not have to believe me, I suppose.”

“I don’t.”

Reisi took a breath and let it out. “Very well. We can settle this matter as much as we ever do, but I would like to send Anna home first.”

Mikoto shook his head. “What if you sent her here on purpose?”

“You know better than that.”

She pulled on his coat. “Reisi.”

“Don’t worry. I just need to have a bit of a… discussion with Suoh. Boring King stuff. I’ll have Awashima take you home, and you can get started on the feast Camo was supposed to make for you.”

“You’re lying.”

He grimaced while Mikoto laughed. “Guess she knows you pretty well, huh?”

“Though it is perhaps foolish to make such a request, I will nevertheless ask that you allow us to continue this discussion at a later time, after I have taken Anna back home. Surely we can reach an agreement without violence for once. After all, the trespassing was incidental and unintentional. You need not hold it against Anna, and if you wish to settle it with me, that can be done at a later time.”

“You and your pretentious talk.”

“As I said, we can go. You need only agree to—”

“Go ahead and go, kid. You don’t want to see this.”

“No!” Anna cried, moving in front of Reisi, blocking him from Mikoto. She wouldn’t let him hurt Reisi. She couldn’t. She’d do anything. She knew she could hurt people, but she didn’t want that. No, she wanted to protect. She’d seen it—Scepter Four did it. They made shields with their aura, and if she could do that, she could keep her guardian—her family—safe.

She closed her eyes and called on it. She was the ward of Reisi Munakata, the Blue King. She was a part of Scepter Four. She was Blue Clan.

She opened her eyes, looking up to see something almost like a bird hovering between her and Mikoto. She couldn’t see its color at first, but then something touched her face, and everything was red before it was in color.

Her glasses. Reisi had brought her glasses.

She could see what she’d made, and it was beautiful. Blue, like Reisi.

But she couldn’t hold it. She faltered, and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her and covering them both with his blue shield.

“You didn’t have to do that. Let the lazy king fend for himself. He’s not worth losing the princess.”

He was, though. “Reisi… The glasses… I thought...”

“Do you know how difficult it is to plan a surprise party for a girl with your abilities?” He asked, looking down at her with eyes so bright she thought he might actually cry, but kings didn’t cry, did they? “I couldn’t let you know, or anyone else, for that matter. Even Fushimi, who would have died rather than admit a thing, would have been unable to hide it from you.”

“A… party? That… was why you… sent me away?”

“Not the only reason, no. I did have duties to see to as well, but I had nearly all of it arranged. Camo and the food was the last piece of this puzzle. So don’t get any ideas about leaving us now. You rest, and when you wake up and we’re home, you can have that feast and watch those dancers you like so much.”

“Reisi...” She grabbed hold of his coat, clinging to him.

“Shh. Just rest.”

* * *

“Pretty sweet, huh, boss?” Kusanagi asked, and Mikoto frowned at him. He shrugged. He supposed it fell under ‘weird as hell,’ too, since he wouldn’t have thought any of them would see a girl like that protecting Munakata, of all people, and if that part wasn’t strange enough, all Munakata said afterward sure was. Mikoto didn’t know what to do with any of this, though Tatara was smiling like crazy. He’d loved it.

Munakata rose to his feet again, shifting the girl in his arms. He took a deep breath and faced Mikoto. “I do not know for certain if you are aware of Anna’s condition, but she is colorblind. She only sees red. She didn’t mean anything by coming after you. This was no infiltration attempt, no trick. Just a child drawn to an aura like the proverbial moth to a flame.”

“You saying you don’t want to fight now?”

“I never did,” Munakata answered. “I came for Anna. That’s all.”

Kusanagi didn’t know if it was really possible for the Blue King not to have been aware he was walking right into HOMRA territory, but he also didn’t know that it was worth making an issue of it.

“What you do to that kid to make her willing to do that for you?” Mikoto asked, and Munakata blinked, seeming confused for a moment.

“Honestly? I have no idea. I didn’t even think she liked me much. I’ve only gotten her to smile the once, you see.”

“Once?”

Munakata faced Mikoto. “Are you willing to set aside the issue of the accidental trespassing for now? I want to get Anna home.”

“Fine. Just don’t let me find out you used her as your damn shield.”

Munakata glared back at him. “As if I would do that to any child. I have no need to resort to such methods.”

“It’s not exactly a secret that one of your people took a bullet for you and died.”

“Yes. And I have to believe his death was not without purpose, even if my abilities as king should have made such a sacrifice unnecessary. I sincerely hope Anna is never anywhere near this position again.”

Kusanagi didn’t think there was a person in this room who would disagree with that last part.

“Were our situations otherwise, I might even have asked for your assistance,” Munakata went on, getting more stares from the members of HOMRA in the room. He smiled as he looked down on the girl. “She likes to watch performances in red, and with your auras, you could easily have given her something I cannot.”

“I’d be glad to do it for her,” Tatara said, and Mikoto shot him a look, which, being Tatara, he ignored. “Of course, I can’t do it for long, but I can do this...”

He made his flame into a butterfly, smiling as he did.

“I appreciate the offer,” Munakata told him. “I may yet call upon you.”

Mikoto shook his head before Tatara could respond. “Not gonna happen. You said you wanted to go, go. No one’s stopping you.”

Munakata bowed his head and left, cradling the girl close to him as he did.

“Never thought I’d see the day that guy went soft for a kid,” Kusanagi admitted, and Mikoto grunted. He watched the Red King for a minute, wondering what it might have been like if Anna had stayed with them for longer. Would it be Mikoto who had her favor, then? He’d have had an advantage over Munakata—his aura was red. Maybe she would have fit in here just fine.

Oddly enough, though, she seemed to be happy with the blues.

* * *

“Reisi?”

“There you are. You had everyone worried, you know. And not just because you ran off on us.”

Anna pulled on his shirt. He said she’d worried him, but he’d worried her. She’d thought he didn’t want her, and then she’d thought he was going to fight the other king. He could have gotten hurt. He could have… died.

“Was the party a lie?”

“No. Though it’s no longer a surprise, nor is it going to be today. You need your rest, so you’ll be here in bed until the medics clear you, and then we’ll have the party.”

She shook her head. “You were… so distant...”

He sighed. “Well, it would seem I need a better strategy to keep any kind of secret from you.”

“Thought you didn’t want me.”

He shook his head. “For many years, I used to wonder what it was I was meant to do. I can see it, you know. The way that you can see things about others? I can see the right path for them. I always have, but I could never see my own. Then I became a king, and I thought I understood. One more piece was missing, though, and that was you.”

“Me?”

“You are a very important piece of the puzzle. Incomplete without you, in fact.”

She bit her lip. “I felt a pull toward him. The Red King.”

“Yes. I don’t doubt you did. If you want, I will tear up that paper and let you go to him.”

“Is that what is right for me?”

“Yes. And no.”

She frowned. “That’s confusing.”

“He may need you. His sword of Damocles is already damaged. You could be something that pulls him from the edge. Or you could be a further catalyst for his destruction.”

She shivered. Reisi shifted so she was closer to him.

“Selfishly, I want you here.”

She buried her face in his shirt, not wanting to face him. If she could save Mikoto, she should, but she liked it here. Reisi’s aura was not a pretty red. He was not the same as her. Yet he made her feel safe. He gave her a world full of colors even if his was blue. He’d let her have as much red as she wanted, but he also gave her more than that.

“However, if you want to be there—”

“No.”

“No?”

“Not forever.”

“Ah, so you want afternoon visitations, perhaps? It did seem that at least one member of HOMRA was not opposed to that idea. I wonder if he dances. We still haven’t found you someone to teach you that.”

She thought that might be nice. Tatara was kind.

“A guardian is like a father, isn’t he?”

“In a sense. Similar functions in many respects, I suppose, though lacking the blood ties in some cases. Sometimes the guardian is female, making her more the mother, but in this case, your guardian is male. I don’t see myself as a mother figure, either. Though…” Reisi looked thoughtful as he studied her. “I am not certain a father is the right term, either.”

“You don’t want to be my father?”

He choked a bit, coughing. A rare thing, she knew that. Reisi was almost always calm, never looked bothered by anything.

“I understand.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” he said, shaking his head. “Though I am a prodigy in many respects and have been since childhood, one area that I did not expect to be a prodigy in is fatherhood.”

She frowned.

“My age, were I your biological parent...”

She elbowed him gently. “That’s silly.”

“So it is, and yet I feel that way all the same. However, if you wish to assign us familial roles, I do not object to that. I am your guardian, after all, so if you wished to renegotiate that term… is older brother sufficient?”

The look he gave her then was intense, as were the feelings within her. For some time now, she had thought he was more than simply a guardian on paper, but it was different to give it a name. A role. And yet… was it enough? Did she feel she needed to insist on him being her _father_ and not her _older brother?_

She shook her head. She was satisfied with what they had, and if Reisi considered himself her brother, that did not make it so that he was not her guardian, not family.

“Reisi?”

“Does this displease you? We can, of course, keep the status quo and not change anything.”

“No.”

“No? Then you do wish for it to change?”

“I am glad you were my guardian on paper.”

He nodded, leaning his head against hers. “As am I.”

“I am more glad you are my brother now.”

“Me, too.”

She knew she was about to fall asleep again, but she had to say one more thing. “Forever is here. With you.”


End file.
